Shuttle Engines during take off

[5IrFaN5]

that's not take off pal, that's lift off, we use ''take off' on rotation :)

[ulisesblue6]

its cool to know that all that "smoke" is actually water vapor...

[alarolmac]

woow beautiful

[visualkei72]

0:26 - my favorite part.. when the halos drop down.

[monimstarfox]

i love how the color of the exhaust changes from a bright orange to almost a white color

[csapilot1]

Pilot controlled-ignition sequence and fuel into the engine deserts, or is driven off the ramp? Also controls the engine power and the SRB?

[englishguy2005]

I love all the pre-launch noises....the sound suppression water starting, then the sparks then when the engines ignite there's a split second sound which sounds like gas coming out of them LOL. Beautiful!!

[toootooot]

I just love every Space Shuttle Discovery Launches.. its always perfect and the most beautiful launch..

[liljaylijay]

I wonder if it's hot there. Lol jk

[AAFC111]

wouldn't want to touch that camera for a while

[UdallIn72]

What's that repetitive "chug, chug, chug"-type sound you can always hear before main engine start?

[MusicalFan1701]

The APU's (auxilliary power units). Yes, I'm a geek.

[QuasiRandomViewer]

The APU's can be heard (and their exhaust flame readily seen) in the STS-130 night landing video.

watch?v=e2dJiFv-R28#t=1m50s

[visualkei72]

0:26-0:29 is beautiful.

orange thrust to blue halos. it looks amazing, and leaves you in awe.

[chase312]

@visualkei72

Makes me wish that airplanes had engines that powerful. Imagine a fighter jet with just one of the SSMEs.

I know it's impossible because they consume so much fuel, but it would be amazing.

[ktmad]

That Was Awesome, The Technology and Power is just amazing, when the water sprinklers come on you can see the power and 'rawr' of the thrusters as 0:28ish. I also love it when the thrusters are at full blast, waiting to be released by the tower, man it's cool. This is the kinda stuff Youtube need!

THANKS for posting this.. AWESOME

[Nuuk93]

Wow! Nice video!!! Those look like some really powerful engines!!! What's with that steam or smoke coming from the engines before the actual launch?

[msudawg1997]

The "smoke" being released at the aft end of each nozzle is actually cold oxygen being vented overboard.

[HNDNV07]

@msudawg1997 I thought the LOX was at the top of the ET? That would be the LH2 turning to gas and venting which is at the bottom of the ET. Maybe I'm incorrect?

[MarsFKA]

@HNDNV07 You are correct about the LOX at the top of the ET. It vents through the beanie cap, which is removed and swung away just before launch. The LH2 boil-off is taken away from the pad through the umbilical masts each side of the Orbiter's tail. At a safe distance from the pad, the LH2 is burned. The flame is visible during night launches. No LH2 boil-off is allowed near the pad. The sparklers at T-10 seconds are to burn off any hydrogen that leaks from the engine bells before ignition.

[BasserPeti]

Really great video, thanks for uploading!!!

[phatjesus008]

yeah , id wish they show all the space launches and so on to the whole country , get people educated on this exciting subject!

[sirlew]

hey! Thanks for that explanation. I came here specifically to try and find out what the sparklers were for!

I had assumed they were for ignition but it always struck me as a rather crude way of doing it. With your explanation it now makes sense.

[sdub999]

Thanks for the info! The video description has been updated.

[TriStateChaser]

sparks do not ignite the engine. These "sparklers" simply burn off excess accumulated hydrogen gas before the engines are started to avoid any excess hydrogen gas ignition. The main engines are ignited internally by the Space Shuttle's onboard computers.

[kinsley2108]

@TriStateChaser Precisely. If they didn't have internal ignitors then how would they ignite in space?